Hopefully you were one of the lucky people to receive a fine quality piece of Charming Chick sterling silver jewelry over the holiday. If you were - or you already own, love and enjoy this gorgeous metal - we have some tips on how to keep it looking it's best. There are just a few things you need to know about silver before we talk about how to care for it.

Sterling Silver consists of 92.5% silver and 7.5% of another metal, which is usually copper or some other alloy. You can tell if a piece of jewelry is Sterling silver because it is commonly stamped with -- 925 or sterling. Silver is much more abundant than gold and platinum, so the price of the piece is largely determined by the craftsmanship and labor involved in its creation.

As some of you may know, over time sterling silver reacts with the sulfur or hydrogen sulfide in the air and the metal can become tarnished. Tarnish (which appears as black patches) occurs when the compound silver sulfide if formed. It is important to note that silver can react poorly when it comes in contact with other things like; rubber gloves, cleaning products, chlorinated water, perfumes, hairsprays, etc.

How to Reduce Tarnishing:

To reduce tarnishing, we recommend keeping your sterling silver jewelry in an air-tight protective bag made of tarnish proof cloth or a plastic zip lock bag made of Mylar or polyethylene. Charming Chick stores and ships our jewelry in small zip-lock style bags for this reason. You can continue to store your jewelry in this bag if you wish, or purchase another larger bag for storing your sterling silver collection. If you properly store your sterling silver charms, bracelets, necklaces, anklets, rings, brooches, etc., they will require minimal cleaning to keep that beautiful shine. We also recommend storing it away from other articles that might rub against it and causes scratches. Sometimes wood finishes can contain chemicals that are not good for sterling silver, so avoid storing on wood surfaces.

Folks born in the month of September are fortunate to have the stunning sapphire as their birthstone. Sapphire is a variety of the mineral corundum and is found in just about every color except for red. There is red corundum but it is known as the gemstone ruby. The blue variety of sapphire is the most popular and is the color used to represent September. The blue sapphire ranges in color from light to dark blue.  The most valuable varieties of sapphire are called Kashmir and Burmese and prized for their intense, deep blue coloring. The Celyon sapphire is one of the oldest varieties of sapphire to be discovered.

Sapphire is a relatively hard gemstone. It is a 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness where 10 (which happens to be diamond) is the hardest mineral. The fact that it is so scratch resistant makes it ideal for daily wear and works well for wedding rings. One of the most famous sapphire wedding rings was worn by the late Princess Diana and now adorns the finger of her daughter-in-law Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge. In addition to being the birthstone for September, it is also the gemstone used to represent the 5th, 23rd and 45th year of marriage.

Sapphires have been worn to represent truth, honor and faithfulness. They were thought to bring about feelings of friendship, harmony, and sympathy. It has also been believed to  offer healing for colic, mental illness and rheumatism and has been worn to  protect against evil spirits and other unsavory creatures. The power of the sapphire was believed to be so strong that if given to another person it could still protect the original wearer and the new owner at the same time.

Sapphire is a luminous and radiant gemstone. It has a rich history and has been loved and adored for centuries. Yes, September babies -- you sure have one heck of a gemstone to represent your birth month. Congratulations and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

You carefully picked and planned exactly what you wanted your wedding bouquet to look like -- but once you say "I do" what can you do to preserve your flowers?  They can be preserved, and enjoyed for years to come. On the Charming Chick blog today, we have some ideas that can help you to do just that!

There are several different methods that you can use to preserve your wedding bouquet, if you or someone you know, is experienced at drying flowers, you can save a lot of money but saving money isn't always the most important thing -- especially if this is something you have your heart set on.

You can look for professional preservists in your area. Some of them actually have the ability - and skill - to disassemble the bouquet, freeze-dry all the parts, ans then put it back together. This is a pretty advanced technique and will not work for every bouquet or flower. You should talk to the preservist several weeks before you wedding so you can find out if the flowers you have chosen are suitable for this method.

Note: Many preservists also need the bouquet a day or two after the wedding, so if you are jetting off on your honeymoon right after your nuptials, you'll want to ask someone to deliver your bouquet.

If you would like to preserve your own bouquet, here are some instructions on how you can do that. Remember, it's best  to start preserving your bouquet the day after the wedding.

{1.} Purchase some silica gel from a craft supply store. Important: If you have pets or children around, be sure to take great care to ensure that there are no silica granules left out that they could get to. There are other materials that people use for drying such as sand, but silica is the most popular choice.

{2.} Cover the bottom of an airtight container - which is large enough to hold your bouquet - with about 2" of the silica gel.

{3.} Place your flowers on the silica. If they are open, stand them upright, leaves can just lay flat.

 {4} Carefully add enough silica get to cover the flowers. Do this very gently so you don't damage the flowers. You don't want to crush them.

{5.} Cover the container with and lid to begin the drying process. After a couple of days, you will want to check the flowers to see how they are progressing. Check them often to ensure that they are dried just the way you would like. Be sure that you don't leave them in the silica too long -- you don't want them to  become too brittle.

{6.} Carefully lift the flowers from the gel and be sure to remove all the granules from the petals. Then you can arrange the flowers are you wish. Some brides will even showcase their bouquet - along with other wedding mementos - in a keepsake box.